January 30, 2013 - Orion Township commuters will soon see a little more green at Scripps and M-24.

Michigan Deparment of Transporation (MDOT) representative Robert Morosi said the crossroad has been the subject of study in recent months. He noted the lengthy queue that builds up in the morning as students and staff attempt to turn east from M-24 onto Scripps Rd.

In response to citizen concerns about traffic safety, MDOT will modify the traffic light timing at the intersection. The solution is to extend the green light by 10 seconds or so to allow southbound vehicles to turn.

The traffic signals will be switched to the longer green time by spring, indicated Rob Morosi, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Transportation.

"We received a lot of feedback from public," he said. "With the school and church there, there's a lot of traffic, and a lot of high school kids driving to school."

Morosi said the local voices have made a difference, and that "anytime there's a concern of that magnitude, we're going to look at it."

The biggest issue brought to MDOT's attention was that the intersection was unsafe, mainly because of the long line that develops in the mornings as commuters wait to enter.

Too often, people try to make a left turn onto Scripps and when the dedicated left turn arrow goes to yellow, many cars are still lined up in the roadway.

"We're adding the additional green time to clear that queue so the oncoming traffic on M24 is not conflicting with the turning traffic,' Morosi said.

One of the complicating factors is that westbound traffic from Scripps is permitted a direct left onto M-24 coming out of the high school. One solution proposed was to require those drivers to execute a Michigan left.

However, "that's just incredibly difficult right now, because the crossovers aren't signalized. So you would have another safety issue with all this traffic queuing up wanting to use the crossover," Morosi said.

Morosi knows there is no silver bullet to be found that will solve the traffic congestion on M-24. However, with a major resurfacing project slated for 2015, MDOT plans to "work with engineering consultants to look at the [traffic] movements to see what can be done to improve area safety."

For more information on the Scripps traffic signal or road projects on M-24, you may contact Rob Morosi, spokesman for the Metro Detroit Region of the Michigan Department of Transportation, at 248-483-5127.